It's '86' for '24'

Can't say I disagree with Jack Bauer on this. Kiefer Sutherland, who plays counter-terrorist super agent Bauer on the Fox TV show '24', is glad the show is getting canceled after eight years and is looking forward to the movie of the same name.

Me too. I've watched every year of the 24-hour real-time series since a colleague hooked me on to the series a few years ago. I went back and rented the first few years, and it was riveting. As soon as one episode ended, I couldn't wait for the other. My wife and I would watch several in a row.

But I haven't been able to get into this year's. And when it's not on DVD, it's hard to pick it up in mid-stream and figure out what's going on because there are so many plot twists.

But the movie version is scheduled at some point, and that sounds like a winner.

Sutherland tells Daily Variety, "I'm very excited about the idea (of a movie). I'm very excited about the opportunity, and singularly because it's a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day. So for the first time, it will be very feasible in this 24 hours to go from England to Russia, or from China to Japan, depending on where they choose to set it.

"Before on the TV show, the crisis had to come to us, because the best we could do was get across town. And the two times we ever put Jack Bauer in a plane, it just didn't work. So it alleviates a huge hurdle that real-time writing presented for us."

Sutherland said a ninth season of the TV series would be a mistake.

"From a creative point, I think Howard (Gordon, executive producer) was feeling that as confident and as strong as he felt about season eight, he was feeling that it was going to be very hard to do a ninth season."